We Are Proud To Be B Corp Certified
Ethical Tees are proud to announce that after months of hard work behind the scenes, we are joining the ranks of conscious organisations that are committed to using business as a force for good: we are now B Corp certified!
Being conscious of our environmental and social impact has always been part of our DNA, so becoming a B Corp was the next obvious step in our journey. Our aim is not only to create high quality products, but more broadly to lead the promotional items market in sustainable practice & driving innovations across the industry. Our hope is that by being one of the first and few Australian promo brand companies to become B Corp certified, we will inspire the industry as a whole to do more good.
Living up to a B Corp certification is a big undertaking, but it is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. Going through this process has given us a deeper understanding of how we are tracking and what we were already doing well, and to keep ourselves accountable and challenged to continually do better. This is only the beginning – and we can’t wait to take you along on the journey.
What it means to be B Corp certified
B Corp is a comprehensive, globally recognised certification given to organisations that can measurably prove that they are using business as a force for good. B Corps meet the highest social and environmental standards, balance purpose with profit, and are assessed across the main four areas:
Ethics
Workers
Customers
Environment
At date of writing, over 470 companies across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are Certified B Corporations, and we are proud to be counted amongst them.
It’s been quite a journey
Getting certified is not an easy or quick process. The B Corp certification process is administered by an independent non-profit organisation called B Lab, and the process is necessarily lengthy and rigorous to critically evaluate how our practices impact the environment, our community, our employees, and our customers. The assessment involves over 300 questions that companies must answer, and a final B Impact Score is provided. For us, this meant almost 18 months of hard work by the entire team, providing evidence of our positive impact and submitting extensive documentation to back up our efforts. It was a huge team effort, contributed to with lots of passion and conviction by everyone.
For us, this process actually began way back when we started Ethical Tees. From the beginning, our intent was to reduce the impact that printing t-shirts has in the world. As our business grew, so did our sense of responsibility to ourselves, our community, and our planet. That is why we worked hard to educate our customers on the benefits of using organic and recycled products.. We're always had environmental and social impact in mind.
Looking forward
We have learnt a lot through this process and are more determined than ever before to continue doing good. The experience has given us a stronger framework and a more concrete action plan of what initiatives we want to tackle next, and where there is still room for improvement. We may not have all the answers yet, but this is the start of something great and we are committed to building a better tomorrow for all.
